Paul-Boncour, Joseph, 1873-1972, French statesman. Although a Socialist, he remained independent of party ties from 1931 to 1945. He was permanent French delegate to the League of Nations (1932-36), was briefly premier (1932-33), and held several cabinet posts, notably the foreign ministry (1933-34, 1936, 1938). He voted (1940) against granting full powers to Marshal Pétain. In 1945 he was a delegate to the conference at San Francisco to draw up a charter for the United Nations. Paul-Boncour long advocated disarmament and an international police force as the sole effective means of preserving peace. His personal Recollections of the Third Republic (tr. 1958) is a political memoir.

Augustin Alfred Joseph Paul-Boncour (4 August 1873 - 28 March 1972) was a French politician of the Third Republic.

Career

Born in Saint-Aignan, Loir-et-Cher, Paul-Boncour received a law degree from the University of Paris and became active in the labor movement, organizing the legal council of the Bourses du Travail (workers' associations). He was private secretary to Premier Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau from 1898 to 1902. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a Radical in 1909, he held his seat until 1914, briefly serving as Minister of Labour in 1911. After serving in the military during World War I, he returned to the French National Assembly.

Turning to Socialism, he joined the SFIO in 1916, but resigned in 1931 to found the independent group Union Socialiste Républicaine, which soon merged with the Parti Démocratique Républicain to form the Parti Démocratique Républicain et Social (PDRS). Also in 1931, Paul-Boncour was elected to the Senate, and served in that capacity until the establishment of the Vichy régime in 1940 (during World War II).

During his time as a Senator, Paul-Boncour served in a variety of cabinent and diplomatic posts. He was the Permanent Delegate to the League of Nations from 1932 to 1936, Minister of War in 1932, Premier from December 1932 to January 1933, and Foreign Minister on three separate occasions (December 1932 to January 1934, January to June 1936, and March 1938).

Paul-Boncour was opposed to the formation of the Vichy government, and recommended continuing the fight against Nazi Germany after the fall of France, from Algiers. As a member of the Consultative Assembly from 1944, he led the French delegation to the United Nations conference in San Francisco and signed the United Nations Charter on behalf of France. He once again served as a senator from 1946 to 1948.

He died in Paris.

Paul-Boncour's Ministry, 18 December 1932 - 31 January 1933

• Joseph Paul-Boncour - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Édouard Daladier - Minister of War
• Camille Chautemps - Minister of the Interior
• Henri Chéron - Minister of Finance
• Albert Dalimier - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
• Abel Gardey - Minister of Justice
• Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
• Léon Meyer - Minister of Merchant Marine
• Paul Painlevé - Minister of Air
• Anatole de Monzie - Minister of National Education
• Edmond Miellet - Minister of Pensions
• Henri Queuille - Minister of Agriculture
• Albert Sarraut - Minister of Colonies
• Georges Bonnet - Minister of Public Works
• Charles Daniélou - Minister of Public Health
• Laurent Eynac - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
• Julien Durand - Minister of Commerce and Industry